A “devastating” fire swept through South Africa’s historic parliamentary complex in Cape Town on Sunday and destroyed the National Assembly, the main chamber.
The exact cause of the fire was unclear last night, but South African police have arrested a 51-year-old man in connection with the incident, who is due to appear in court on Tuesday.
“The entire chamber where the members sit… has burned down,” Moloto Mothapo, a spokesman for the National Assembly, told reporters.
Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African president who lives in Cape Town when off duty, said on Sunday: ”This is devastating news, a devastating event, particularly since we just gave ‘The Arch’ [Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu] the best send off.”
Parliament is next door to St George’s Cathedral where the requiem mass for Mr Tutu was held on Saturday after his death, aged 90, on Boxing Day.
“The Arch would have been devastated. This is a place he… supported and prayed for, and wanted to see [it] as a repository for the democracy he worked so hard for,” Mr Ramaphosa added.
He also said that he had been informed that the sprinkler system “did not work as it was supposed to.”
There are hundreds of historic documents and artworks in the parliamentary complex from when the British allowed the first legislature of the Cape Colony in 1835 and Queen Victoria allowed the Cape to form a parliament in 1853.
Plumes of thick black smoke rose high into the sky above parliament all day and into neighbouring streets, while firefighters arrived at the historic part of the city six minutes after they were called.
“The entire parliamentary complex is severely damaged, waterlogged and smoke damaged,” said Jean Pierre “JP” Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security in Cape Town.
“The roof above the old Assembly hall is completely gone and the offices adjacent to it and the gym are destroyed,” Mr Smith said. ”The fire has not been contained. The National Assembly chamber behind me is gutted. The structural ceiling has collapsed and the fire staff had to be momentarily withdrawn.”
He said the fire started in the office area of the complex before spreading to the National Assembly chambers, and that although firefighters arrived swiftly they had difficulties getting inside.
Mr Smith also said the fire alarm system appeared not to have functioned properly and firefighters had in fact arrived at the scene before the alarm went off.
“The electricity at the complex did not trip when the fire started. That created a very dangerous situation and the entire block’s electricity had to be disconnected,” he said.
“The fire detection equipment took quite a while to activate, and so the fire was active for a while.”
Patricia de Lille, the public works and infrastructure minister, said: “This is a very sad day for our democracy because parliament is the home of our democracy and parliament is also a strategic key point.”
Willie Madisha, an MP for the opposition party COPE, told reporters: “We are not safe. There was a fire here last March, we have not seen a report on that. We have 24 hour security here, so what happened?”
The small opposition African Christian Democratic Party chief whip, Steve Swart, took part in an impromptu press conference outside parliament. He said: “Sadly the fire is spreading to the upper reaches of the National Assembly, This is a great shock to me to see the smoke rising. I have been here since 1999.”
A firefighter who emerged from the building late in the afternoon and who spoke briefly outside the complex said the fire was still blazing, and that it was difficult to know when it would be extinguished. (Daily Telegraph UK)
